Improvement in bird-cages



O. W, TAFT..

Bird-Gage.

Patented Nov. 20, 1877..

ATHBNEIS.

NZFETERS. PHUrO-LITHOGRAPHER \VAQHINGTON D C Urrnn STATES P TEN Orrrcn.

OWEN W. TAFT, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT l-N BIRD-CAGES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 197,427, dated November 20,1877 application filed November 3, 1 877.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, OWEN W. TAFT, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and Im proved Bird-Gage; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, andexact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a side view of the cage with the base and one-half of the cage in vertical section. Fig. 2 is a detail of a portion of one of the standards, Fig.3, a modification of the invention.

My invention relates to an improvement in bird-cages, designed primarily to adapt the cage to be taken to pieces and packed in a smaller compass for greater facility in transportation.

The improvement consists in a bird-cage body made in detachable parts, and arranged to be held in its complete integral form by a tension exerted, either individually or collectively, upon the several wires constituting the same.

In practicing my'invention numerous modirepresents any ordinary stand or base of a birdcage, to which the cage-body constituting my invention is removably attached by hooksand lugs, keys, springs, or other suitable fastening devices. a

B B B B are sets of vertical standards, of which there may be two sets, as shown, or more, if desired. Each pair of standards, as B B, is made in one piece, extending upward upon one side from the baseplate, thence across the conical top, and down on theother side, each pair being cut or mortised at the point where it crosses the other to make abetter connection. These-standards are slotted at their lower ends to form forks, which forks stand upon and embrace a substantial basering, 0. At the bend of the standard,-also' betweenthe vertical andinclined roof portions, shoulders at are formed, upon which shoulders,

' and embracing the standards,a stiff ring, D,

is arranged. Now, these standards B B and the rings O and D have no rigid nor permanent connection with each other. To hold them together, as well as form the cage-body, I arrange upon the apex of the cage a cappiece, E, which rests upon the crossed upper bends of the standards; and to this cap-piece I attach the series of vertical tension-wires F. These wires have a few convolutions or coils, 1), formed in their inclined portions, and after being distended over the ring D, upon which they are held in place by notches, they extend vertically downward, and terminate each in a spiral coil, 0, whose lower ends are separately ttached to the base-ring O by pins, hooks, or perforations. In fastening these wires, then, it will be seen that they are each first hooked into the holes of the cap-piece, and then strained and fastened to the ring 0 below, or fastened below, and then strained and hooked into the cap-piece.

F, then, is double,

form the cage-body, and the other to exert a tension which holds the ring D and standards BB securely between the cap-piece E and'the base-ring O, and the whole rigidly together, to form a complete bird-cage body, without special fastenings for the wires, and one in which the several parts may be quickly separated and packed, or put together and adjusted.

In the example thus described it will be seen that each wire exerts a separate and individwhich not only acts to hold the ual tension, cage-body together, but prevents each and every wire from ever becoming bent or misplaced, the elasticity or spring of each wire allowing it to yield to pressure or blows, and afterward assume its former position.

In some examples of my detachable or folding tension bird-cage I may desire to employ the tension, not individually in each wire, as

just described, but collectively on all the wires; and in such case I may employ the form shown in Fig. 3, in which A A are standards, having a cap-piece carrying a hook at thetop, and B is a collapsible cage-body, which is elevated and secured to the hook of the standards, and

the tension is then exerted collectively upon the wires by the springing of the standards, or by a set-screw. Said cage-bo'dy may, in

this case, be made in various forms--as, for

The function of these wires one being to close'in and instance, itv maybe constructed of a single continuous conical spiral wire, 0/, having vertical flexible chains, links, or cords b; or it may be formed of a series of concentric hoops or rings, held together by flexible connections after the manner of a hoop-skirt, the bottom" 5 of the cage-body B being attached to a ring,

as shown in dotted lines, correspondingto ring Only by a tensionexerted upon its parts, the

merit of which is found in the fact thatitpro vides a secure means of holding together its parts without rigid fastenin'gs, and in a manner to permit theirready'separability, and also allows the wires to be made much lighter and more delicate than those which depend upon their own thickness for their rigidity.

Having. thus described my invention, what I claim as new is N 1. A bird-cage body made in detachable parts, and arranged to be held inits complete integralform by a tension exerted upon its ,wires, substantially as and for the purpose de-' jscribed. w a a i 2. The combination of the shoulderedstaml ards B E the notched ring D, the cap-piece E, the base-rin g G, and the tension-wires F, formed with spiral coils, and arranged tohold the parts together, substantially asdescribed, V The above specification of my invention signedby me'this 2d day of November, 187].

owns w. TAFT.-

Witnesses p EDW'D. W. BYRN, CHAS. A. Pnrcrrr. 

